Published every two years, the OECD Science, Technology and Industry (STI) Scoreboard brings together over 200 internationally comparable quality indicators to explore the progress of national innovation strategies and recent developments in science, technology and industry.

Its goal is to inform policy makers on questions of high policy interest, including:

The international mobility of researchers and scientists

The growth of the information economy

Innovation by regions and industries

Innovation strategies by companies

The internationalisation of research

The changing role of multinational enterprises

New patterns in trade competitiveness and productivity

By providing a wide array of indicators for policy analysis, the STI Scoreboard has become a widely used reference which combines statistical rigour with easy access and readability. The key findings are presented as bullet points alongside graphs highlighting the relative importance of countries. In addition, brief technical notes provide further methodological details on the indicators, along with links to useful references and data sources

Statlinks give users easy access to the ExcelTM spreadsheets containing the data used in charts and figures.

The STI Scoreboard 2007 includes all-new sections covering areas high on the agenda of OECD member countries:

R&D and investment in knowledge

Human resources in S&T

Innovation policy

Innovation performance

ICT: an enabler for the knowledge society

Particular fields

Internationalisation of S&T

Global economic flows

Trade and productivity

A quarter of the indicators reported in the STI Scoreboard 2007 are brand new, covering areas such as: patenting by universities and public research centres, the interaction between science and technology (in patents), and patenting by regions and industries.

A new chapter addresses patterns in S&T activities in biotech, nanotech and environmental technologies.

The internationalisation of S&T is the subject of a new section and brings together indicators of international collaboration in science, technology, and research activities by multinational companies.

In a large number of topics, the position of key international players outside the OECD area, notably the BRIICS economies (Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China and South Africa) are also highlighted.

A new full-colour layout makes readability and data comparability easier than ever.

Executive summary

Throughout the world, innovation and globalisation are the two major sources of economic performance. They directly affect productivity, job creation and citizens' well-being, and they help make it possible to address global challenges such as health and the environment. As their role has taken on greater prominence, their characteristics have evolved and policies have had to adapt.

This eighth edition of the Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard explores recent developments in matters relating to science, technology, globalisation and industrial performance. In this regard, it compares characteristics of OECD member and major non-member economies and provides information on national policies that have been implemented and their outcome. Major findings include:

Investment in new knowledge, notably in R&D, is now growing in line with GDP. This contrasts with the late 1990s when investment in knowledge outpaced growth of GDP.

Skilled workers constitute an increasing share of the labour force, notably in the services industries.

Public policies that seek to foster innovation are being progressively reoriented, from subsidies and procurement to alternative instruments such as R&D tax relief and reinforcement of industry-science linkages.

The pace of diffusion of information and communication technologies has become steadier than in the heady days of the late 1990s, notably in terms of broadband Internet access among households and adoption by businesses for e-commerce.

The economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are taking further steps in many areas of the knowledge economy, most notably in terms of investment in research (in China and India), patenting and trade in high-technology industries.

Research and S&T activities have become more internationalised, in line with the increasing globalisation of value chains. In most OECD countries foreign affiliates of multinational firms now have a higher share in R&D than in manufacturing activities.

Summaries in other languages

Summaries of the 2007 Scoreboard are available in the following languages:

The complete STI Scoreboard 2007 is also available free on line and provides easy access to individual sections and links to the databases used. Spreadsheets containing the data used in the charts and figures are only a click away. Each indicator is also downloadable in pdf format. Click here to access the online Scoreboard. (Alternative link: click here for mirror site)

How to obtain this publication

Readers can access the full version of the STI Scoreboard 2007 in the following ways: